The Shield - 7th and Final Season

[Eklypze]

I loved that about Dutch. It was such a twisted moment for an incredibly deep and slightly tormented character. I sympathize with Dutch a lot and I get that he was curious about it like that. It'd be difficult to get so inside serial killers heads like he is able to do and not have a bit of darkness inside yourself

[Wolfwood]

Agreed, Dutch was the kind of character that you could see a bit of yourself in. Which was what made it so great that after years of being **** on, everyone grew to secretly fear/respect him.

[James]

From IMDB:

In the Sons Of Anarchy season 1 dvd commentary, creator Kurt Sutter (Who was a writer on the Shield and who also played Margos Dezerian) stated that his original pitch for Dutch in the final episode of The Shield series would have Dutch come home after long day's work, go down into his basement to reveal a bunch of dead bodies or a torture room or something along those lines. Showing Dutch to be a serial killer. While this idea was quickly scrapped by Shawn Ryan, therefore is not canon; it shows that there was something odd about Dutch that even some of the writers on the show wanted to elaborate on.

I'm glad Shawn Ryan scrapped the idea. As odd as Dutch was from time to time, at the heart of it all the character was a noble guy.

[Eklypze]

Yea I would've never wanted anything like that with Dutch. I mean, it would've been too obvious and IMO totally diminished his character. I honestly still can't believe him and Danni never actually hooked up.

Another character I can't help but to love was Billings. He was so great, a douche bag no doubt but he was actually a good detective and a good guy. I loved him and Dutch together too, they really did help balance each other out.

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Originally Posted by James

From IMDB:

In the Sons Of Anarchy season 1 dvd commentary, creator Kurt Sutter (Who was a writer on the Shield and who also played Margos Dezerian) stated that his original pitch for Dutch in the final episode of The Shield series would have Dutch come home after long day's work, go down into his basement to reveal a bunch of dead bodies or a torture room or something along those lines. Showing Dutch to be a serial killer. While this idea was quickly scrapped by Shawn Ryan, therefore is not canon; it shows that there was something odd about Dutch that even some of the writers on the show wanted to elaborate on.

I'm glad Shawn Ryan scrapped the idea. As odd as Dutch was from time to time, at the heart of it all the character was a noble guy.

that would have tripped the **** out of me if that went thru...

[Eklypze]

It would've ruined his character but yea it totally would've been like the biggest WTF moment ever

[James]

Originally Posted by Eklypze

Yea I would've never wanted anything like that with Dutch. I mean, it would've been too obvious and IMO totally diminished his character. I honestly still can't believe him and Danni never actually hooked up.

Another character I can't help but to love was Billings. He was so great, a douche bag no doubt but he was actually a good detective and a good guy. I loved him and Dutch together too, they really did help balance each other out.

I despised Billings for the most part, but he was truly something when it came to cases involving kids. The guy was selfish and petty, but if a case involved children he always seemed to pull his britches up and go full power, it was damn cool.

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

god, I've missed talking about the show like this...

[James]

I could be wrong, and perhaps even a little biased because The Shield is my favorite TV series ever, but I feel like it's kind of underrated. No doubt there are plenty of people who love the show and recognize it for it's brilliance, not to the degree it deserves though. With the shooting of Crowley kicking it off and characters who the audience egged on and supported despite being truly awful people, The Shield helped in a big way to kick off the way a lot of modern day dramas are written.

The Shield also really stands out from the other shows of its time because didn't suffer from the Writer's Strike. The writers on the show joined their counterparts and went on strike, but Michael Chiklis and others who weren't writers by trade picked up the reins. While other shows were delayed or just falling apart story wise, The Shield continued to rip along without losing it's quality.

[Doomed_hero]

i have to say that the Shield had hands down one of the best end scenes of any tv finale.

[Eklypze]

I agree James. This show is vastly underrated. I've told friends I was watching it before and they've laughed and made jokes like "Oh do you like Law and Order too?" and stuff like that and I'm just like these people just have no damn clue

[THUNDERSTRIKE]

Originally Posted by Doomed_hero

i have to say that the Shield had hands down one of the best end scenes of any tv finale.

I remember back then seeing Vic sitting at his desk in total silence and then pulling out his weapon and staring at it and thinking to myself "oh hell, Vic's not going to blow his brains out, is he?"...

it was just a very intense moment not knowing if Vic was going to do it or not...

[Eklypze]

This show was just tension from beginning to end. Breaking Bad even has it's slower, softer moments but this was just tense through and through

[nite-owl]

I think when I' am done with The Sopranos, The Shield is going to be the next show I'll get into.

[JJJ's Ulcer]

This is a show that hooked me with the first episode, because that last scene of the first episode (remember Terry? you know what I'm talking about) shocked the crap out of me. It was 2002 and I had never seen a show make the main character seem so instantly terrible and messed up and unlikeable, and yet still somehow you rooted for him. Not even Tony Soprano seemed that cold and calculating. Maybe now things would be different. Before Vic, we had Tony Soprano and that was it really. Now we have Walter White, Nucky Thompson, Dexter and a whole slew of really bad protagonists you still somehow root for. But The Shield, along with Sopranos and a couple other early cable shows, really pioneered the notion that a TV audience could get behind a main character who was a terrible human being.

[Eklypze]

Agreed wholeheartedly. Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me to a lesser degree were right there too although their characters were never as reprehensible as the ones you mentioned, more flawed but still goes with the "pushing the envelope" that all those shows sat out to do

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Even network TV is getting in on it now with 'Homeland', 'The Americans' and even earlier Locke and Ben in 'Lost.'

[kit1982]

Originally Posted by James

I despised Billings for the most part, but he was truly something when it came to cases involving kids. The guy was selfish and petty, but if a case involved children he always seemed to pull his britches up and go full power, it was damn cool.

After the stunt he pulled with Dutch, Tina and Hiatt I could never really despise Billings. The look on Hiatts face when he saw Dutch was friggin priceless!

[Eklypze]

That's the one thing I disliked him for. That was just soooo wrong. I felt so damn bad for Dutch

[kit1982]

It was the ultimate douche move, but a damn good one. I can't put my finger on why, but Vic's hazing of Dutch always hit me harder than anything Billings did.

[Webfoot Hero]

Originally Posted by JJJ's Ulcer

Even network TV is getting in on it now with 'Homeland', 'The Americans' and even earlier Locke and Ben in 'Lost.'

The first 2 you mentioned are cable/satellite shows that can get away with more than any national network (ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox being the 4 networks) ever could; only Lost was on major national network TV.

[Webfoot Hero]

I really got into the series after it started its syndication run and was shown late at night. I got hooked after the pilot episode and kept watching it through its remaining seasons. I got hooked again once I was able to pick up the entire series at Best Buy since every single season was on sale for $20 (now you can pick up every season for under $10.) I haven't watched it in a couple years but I may do watch it again after reading this thread.

[James]

Originally Posted by JJJ's Ulcer

This is a show that hooked me with the first episode, because that last scene of the first episode (remember Terry? you know what I'm talking about) shocked the crap out of me. It was 2002 and I had never seen a show make the main character seem so instantly terrible and messed up and unlikeable, and yet still somehow you rooted for him. Not even Tony Soprano seemed that cold and calculating. Maybe now things would be different. Before Vic, we had Tony Soprano and that was it really. Now we have Walter White, Nucky Thompson, Dexter and a whole slew of really bad protagonists you still somehow root for. But The Shield, along with Sopranos and a couple other early cable shows, really pioneered the notion that a TV audience could get behind a main character who was a terrible human being.

Even Tony Soprano was different in that the audience expected him to be unlikeable. From the get go he was a bad guy, before you sat down and watched The Sopranos, you knew you were watching a show about criminals. Same with Dexter, Nucky, even Walter. The mind blowing thing with Vic was his being a cop, we'd all seen cop shows before and very rarely did they do anything against the rules. We basically "knew" what to expect...and then wham! Vic Mackey just broke all the rules of television.

[Eklypze]

Yea, this show literally started off with a bang. You couldn't believe what had just happened because no show had ever gone there so quick before. That's why I said it was tension from beginning to end